Saturday, after getting the call my mom was being rushed back to the hospital after a surgery the week before, I started packing. It was a rush as tickets were changed to an earlier date, packing commenced, and calendars checked for important activities to hand off to Jack. When the call came announcing Mom was being rushed to surgery, the urgency increased tenfold. After getting to the airport and taking a breath, an inner calm settled over me. Worry? Yes. Scared? Yes. But a strength welled up inside me as I prepared to help my mom fight for her life.
Stepping inside that hospital and back into a family I only see periodically, was jolting. The person I speak with the most, text the most, and skype with the most, was laying unconscious in a hospital bed with a breathing tube down her throat. Luckily, I have family members who it feels like I just saw them yesterday. We fall right back into our relationship seamlessly. Others it is more difficult.
But I am stepping into their lives. They know my parents' friends. They have routines when they come here. They have jobs to go to. They have friends to come to the hospital. I am getting to meet these people that my family spend their time with. I am seeing sides of my brothers I have not seen. We are not at home being the silly kids we used to be. We are our grown up selves at the hospital dealing with grown up situations. But we don't really know these grown up people. We are all very different and lead very different lives. Hopefully we will all be open to seeing each other as grown ups and getting to know each other in that role. Because the situation we find ourselves in is not for kids.
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